The Durham Miners Association is delighted to host two open days, welcoming visitors to explore the building and grounds at Redhills.

Part of the national Heritage Open Days programme, these free events provide an opportunity to see inside the Grade II listed ‘Pitman’s Parliament’, recognised by Historic England as one of the country’s 100 Irreplaceable Places.

Open from 11am – 4pm, visitors will be welcomed to our Open Days by our knowledgeable and friendly volunteers and staff. Normally only accessible via pre-arranged guided tour, this is your chance to find out about the 150 year history of the Durham Miners Association, hear stories from the Durham Coalfield and learn about our vision for the future.

The Durham Miners Association is delighted to host two open days, welcoming visitors to explore the building and grounds at Redhills.

Part of the national Heritage Open Days programme, these free events provide an opportunity to see inside the Grade II listed ‘Pitman’s Parliament’, recognised by Historic England as one of the country’s 100 Irreplaceable Places.

Open from 11am – 4pm, visitors will be welcomed to our Open Days by our knowledgeable and friendly volunteers and staff. Normally only accessible via pre-arranged guided tour, this is your chance to find out about the 150 year history of the Durham Miners Association, hear stories from the Durham Coalfield and learn about our vision for the future.

The event will feature music and poetry inspired by the mining heritage and culture of the Durham Coalfield. Students will also join the award-winning NASUWT Riverside Brass Band to premiere new work from composer Steve Robson, as well perform some much-loved classics.

Proceeds from the event will go to The Redhills Appeal, the campaign to renew Durham Miners Hall as a centre for heritage, education and culture. To find out more, visit redhillsdurham.org.

Titled ‘The Future We Build’ – from the motto of the Durham Miners’ Association (DMA) – the concert if culmination of a school project exploring the history of Redhills, and the heritage and culture of the coalfield.

Students visited Redhills and researched the history of the DMA and the coalfield. They then worked with renowned composer Steve Robson and leading brass musicians to create new music inspired by their findings.

Music inspired by history and heritage of Redhills will be prominent throughout the evening. There will also be poetry by Tommy Armstrong, and folk music from St John’s musicians. The concert will also feature a varied programme of well-known brass band music.

‘The Future We Build’ is at Redhills: Durham Miners Hall on Thursday 3 October. Doors open at 7pm, with the performance beginning at 7.30pm. Refreshments will be available.

Common People is a collection of essays, poems and memoir, which celebrate the depth and texture of working-class life. The collection brings together established and emerging writers who redefine what it means to be working-class.

At this special event, a selection of the contributors will gather in The Pitman’s Parliament at Redhills to read from their work and discuss their experiences as working-class writers.

The event – part of Durham Book Festival – will also feature the premiere of a short film from emerging Durham writer Louise Powell, inspired by her childhood experiences at Easington dog track.

Kit de Waal is the author of My Name is Leon and The Trick to Time and the editor of Common People. Kit and Louise will be joined by emerging writers Adam Sharp and Jodie Russian-Red and acclaimed author Paul McVeigh, whose novel The Good Son won the Polari Prize.

The 4th Industrial Revolution describes the exponential changes to the way we live, work and relate to one another due to the adoption of cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things and the Internet of Systems.

The Common Room and Redhills invite you to discuss, learn from and question our panel of experts on the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Chris McDonald, CEO of the Materials Processing InstituteChris is Chair of the UK Metals Council, member of the North East Council of the CBI and Policy Chair for Innovation & Enterprise at the Federation of Small Businesses.

Beth Farhat, Regional Secretary of Northern Trades Union CongressBeth oversees the delivery of the TUC’s campaign plan and the “North East Better Health at Work Awards”, as well as representing the Northern TUC on several boards, including for Employment and Skills.

Gerald Moore, Philosopher of Technology at Durham UniversityGerald is co-director of the Centre for Culture and Ecology, and researches the political and social issues thrown up by automation, including the relationship between technology and the kinds of work we deem to be good, or life-enhancing.

Alison Reynolds, Strategic Human Resources and Organisational Development ConsultantAlison is also a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and has a wealth of strategic experience within engineering and manufacturing.

For further details please contact The Common Room Programme Coordinator on 07825 438578 or email Susan.Ford@TheCommonRoom.org.uk

The life of former pitman and professional artist Norman Cornish will be celebrated with a special lecture at the historic home of the Durham miners on the eve of his centenary anniversary.

The fully illustrated lecture will be delivered by Cornish family member Mike Thornton on Sunday November 17 at 2pm at Redhills: Durham Miners Hall.

Norman, who was born on 18 November 1919, painted numerous scenes of pitmen, his community and his beloved Durham Miners Gala. He became one of the leading 20th century British artists and his work is held in public and private collections throughout the UK and beyond.

Durham Miners Hall, known as The Pitman’s Parliament, has been designated as one of the country’s top 100 irreplaceable places by Historic England.

Mike Thornton said: “We have toured the region with the lecture about Norman and The Pitman’s Parliament is the most appropriate place to deliver it on the day before his birthday. Norman’s work records and represents the life of mining in County Durham and his depictions of pit life and the Miner’s Gala is well known. We hope as many people as possible will join us for the day.”

The lecture is being hosted by Durham Miners Association (DMA) which celebrates its 150th anniversary on November 20 – just three days after the lecture.

DMA Secretary Alan Mardghum said: “It is an honour to host this important event, particularly as the two anniversaries are so close together. Norman’s work is a central part of the representation of our unique mining heritage and culture. We are glad that his family have chosen the Pitman’s Parliament for the event.”

The event will also feature Tony Gadd, poet-in-residence for the Cornish Centenary, reading his poem about the Durham Miners’ Gala.

Proceeds from the event will go to The Redhills Appeal, the campaign to renew the home of the Durham Miners Association (DMA) as a centre for heritage, culture and education.

Set in Newcastle, the film by writer Paul Laverty and the team behind I, Daniel Blake, is both an intimate family drama and an angry, meticulously researched indictment of a callous, inhumane economic system.

The screening will begin at 7pm on Thursday 5 Decemeber. Doors open at 6pm and refreshments will be served in the Committee Room. Parking on site at Redhills is limited and restricted to blue badge holders only. Nearby on street parking is free after 6pm. Redhills is a short walk from both Durham railway and bus stations.

The 15-rated film runs for 100mins and will be followed by a Q&A with Ken Loach.

Historian, broadcaster and film maker David Olusoga will join us in The Pitman’s Parliament at Redhills for this keynote lecture marking Black History Month.

Co-hosted by Durham University Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Unit, Ustinov College and Durham Miners Association, this event is open to all staff and students of Durham University as well as members of the local community, free of charge. Admission is by ticket only and there will be no tickets available on the door on the evening of the event. The event will begin at 18.00 and therefore doors will close at 17.55.

There is limited on-street parking outside of Redhills which is free after 18.00. If you require a disabled access parking space, this can be arranged by notifying Katie Stobbs on katie.j.stobbs@durham.ac.uk in advance.

David Olusoga is a British-Nigerian historian, broadcaster and film-maker. His most recent TV series include Black and British: A Forgotten History (BBC 2), The World’s War (BBC 2), A House Through Time (BBC 2) and the BAFTA winning Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners (BBC 2). David is also the author of Black & British: A Forgotten History which was awarded both the Longman-History Today Trustees Award and the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize. His other books include The World’s War, which won First World War Book of the Year in 2015, The Kaiser’s Holocaust: Germany’s Forgotten Genocide and the Colonial Roots of Nazism and Civilizations: Encounters and the Cult of Progress. David was also a contributor to the Oxford Companion to Black British History and writes for The Guardian and is a columnist for The Observer and BBC History Magazine. He is also one of the three presenters on the BBC’s landmark Arts series Civilizations.

The Redhills Appeal

The event is free of charge, though donations to The Redhills Appeal would be welcome.

The Durham Miners Association marks its 150th anniversary in 2019. The DMA was founded on 20 November 1869, when a small number of miners met at the Market Tavern in Durham city.

Within three years, the association had organised to abolish the system of bonded labour that had operated across the coalfield for generations, and had founded the Durham Miners’ Gala.

By 1915, the DMA had grown in membership to more than 150,000, and had established its magnificent headquarters Redhills: Durham Miners Hall. For generations, elected delegates from each of the county’s collieries met in the council chamber at Redhills, known as The Pitman’s Parliament. From The Pitman’s Parliament, the DMA created a social system across County Durham before the creation of the welfare state. The DMA provided sickness and unemployment benefits, retirement homes, medical care, community centres, libraries, and sports fields.

On 20 November 2018, the DMA launched The Redhills Appeal to secure the future of Durham Miners Hall as a centre for heritage, education, and culture.